'You’ve got to wonder if it’s worth it'I
found this article, by Vincent Graff, on the
Mail & Guardian Online, questioning the role of journalists in the war in Iraq, which has now reached it's fourth anniversary. He mentions that the death toll of journalists in Iraq reached its worst ever in 2006, with 138 names mentioned at the Royal Television Society's journalism awards - and that's only broadcasting. It got me thinking.
The question to be asked is not whether it's worth putting your life on the line as a journalist to get the grit out into the public domain, but whether the presence of journalists in Iraq even makes a difference anymore. The public is getting bored with the same old story, and the situation in Iraq is only escalating, particularly with regards to the safety of the media.
What do we have to do to make journalism in war situations effective again?
Bob Woolmer's murderI am shocked to hear about the murder of Bob Woolmer in his hotel room in Jamaica at the
2007 Cricket World Cup. His death and the reaction of his team is tragic enough without the deeply concerning added shadow the murder casts over the World Cup as a whole.
One can't help thinking back to the Hansie Cronje scandal in South Africa, and wondering how deep the corruption all really runs. Read the latest from the
BBC,
Mail & Guardian, and
CNN.
Would someone please explain to me...How is it feasible to
obtain or renew your firearm license online? I mean surely getting permission from the government to own and use a firearm in South Africa requires you to have some kind of eyesight and fingerprint test, or maybe aim at something and hit it, to prove you are actually going to be safe to walk around in public?
If anyone knows how this works, please fill me in, because I am struggling to put this together in my head.
Back on the radarAs you may have noticed I have dropped off the blogging radar for the last month. I've had a rather manic few weeks since getting back from my Christmas holidays. I have mostly been completely snowed under at work, but had something of an antidote snowboarding for a week in Switzerland, which helped immensely.
We thankfully had a load of snow shortly after I arrived, or it would have been a hiking holiday. As it was we had some good powder and great riding at a small resort called Les Marecottes, on the train line between Martigny and Chamonix. Europe, for those who are unaware, has experienced one of the worst winter sports seasons in years due to an unusually warm winter (which the greenies blame on climate change/global warming).
You can see the photos from my trip
here.
Back at workI am back safely in London at work after an amazing and much needed holiday in Germany and Scotland. I had a really good time with close friends and very cool people.
See the evidence
here and
here.
My plans for the silly seasonChristmas holiday time is almost here and it can't come too soon. Well actually a lot of people are away already, but my plans are as follows:
15-21 Dec: Working like a trojan
22 Dec: Work Christmas party
23 Dec: Pack, wrap presents
24 Dec: Fly to Cologne, Germany to spend Christmas with Karina and her family (good family friends of ours)
25 Dec: Presents. Oh and food.
29 Dec: Mom's birthday, and flying back to London
30 Dec: Train to Edinburgh
31 Dec: Hogmanay (New Year) in Edinburgh with Solii and her friends (my sister-in-laws friend)
1-5 Jan: Visiting Edinburgh and St Andrews (where my family is from) and surrounds.
5 Jan: Back to London
8 Jan: Back to work
Very jealous of everyone that is away in Argentina and Chile (my brother and his wife), South Africa (too many to name), Zimbabwe (Di etc) and Dubai (my work colleague Shane, who is sadly leaving us). I'm going nutty without the sunshine already.
They've gone and done it again!
I
posted an entry recently about a bunch of idiot South Africans who insisted on flying the old SA flag in support of our national rugby team at the SA-England test match on November 25.
Well they've gone and done it again at a World XV match in Leicester which the Boks played this weekend. Not only that, they arrived with their old flags to greet our players at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg when they arrived home today.
Thankfully the Springboks have slammed the display of the flags. The
Mail & Guardian Online reports Springbok manager Zola Yeye as saying:
Look at this Springbok team. These are young men of 23 and 24 and they don't want to be subjected to memories of the apartheid system. I would like to say to those people who wave the old flag, these men don't care about your political beliefs or your ideology. They want to play rugby, whether it be against black, white, brown, pink or whatever colour the opposition is... Our national flag is our heart and soul, and these people are insulting the country and the constitution when they embrace the old flag.
What the hell are these narrow-minded people doing? You would think that 12 years down the line they might consider joining the rest of South Africa in our efforts to move forward.
